herbed lebanese rice

this is one of our favourite, easy-to-prepare and really delicious suppers. the leftovers can be used in a variety of ways!

for supper, we normally serve it with heated pita, cucumber sauce and of course kimchi! a lemon slice squeezed on the rice doesn' hurt either!

INGREDIENTS and steps

Lean ground beef

Worcestershire sauce (as much as you like)

2-3 cloves of garlic (depending on how garlicky you like your food and depending on how much hamburger you are using. I tend to throw 4-5-6 cloves in!!! but we looove garlic! And we’ve never been attacked by a vampire...might be on to something there – bahahaha!)

Finely chopped onion (however much you like)

Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

As much cumin as you like

As much turmeric as you like

As much cayenne as you like

(maybe a ¼ teaspoon of each??? I think i use closer to half a teaspoon of each but we like it really spicey!)

A ton of fresh-chopped parsley

Cooked rice

1. bring your ground beef to room temperature – take it out and put it in a bowl with a lid for about half an hour before you intend to cook it.
2. dump Worcestershire sauce all over your hamburger, break it up into pieces and dump some more. Mix it all around, trying not to stir it up too much.
3. use your garlic crusher and crush your garlic into your meat.
4. add your chopped onion.
5. add your sea salt and pepper.
6. add your cumin, turmeric and cayenne – i just sprinkle it all around the meat until i feel i’ve used enough.
7. mix it all together, try not to stir it too much. put the lid on and let sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes (depends on time of year and how warm it is in the house).
8. after the meat has sat, cook it over medium-high heat, stirring it around and breaking it up. It will release a lot of liquid due to the Worcestershire sauce, but that is a good thing as it almost makes a sauce and all of the spices are in that sauce.
9. cook off the majority of the sauce and then either strain the meat or not. I don’t strain as i like for some of the greasy sauce to mix with the rice.
10. when the hamburger is cooked throw your chopped fresh parsley into it and mix it around. Now throw your cooked rice in, stir it all around and serve!

the Framboise Manor guide to home-made veg broth

this post is for my friend Sue. we have been talking back and forth about making broth and i thought i would post the way that we do it here, for her. (that and the fact that i have not been maintaining this blog at all! i want to - and know that there will be a time when we aren't up to our eyeballs doing a million of other things - and i really like using a blog to collect recipes! all of this to say that i will be trying to keep up to date with this blog!)

this is not so much of a recipe as it is a how-to guide and it is the way that we make all of our home-made broth. there are millions of recipes and whatnot but i thought i would share "our way" and if any of you are interested - then that's awesome!

first off - because we don't have chickens or other animals that would gladly eat the tops of carrots or veggies about to go off - i save all of the cleaned trimmings, skins, peels, etc. from all of our veggies. i store these in a freezer bag and add to it daily. i also grab any veg/fruit that is about to go off and store those in the freezer bags as well. these will be used to make the broth. whenever i plan on making broth, i always make sure to have fresh celery, onion and carrot as these fresh veggies will really make the flavour in the broth with the frozen ones adding water from their melting, and a deepening flavour.



i start with a big giant pot on my tiny stove. i get the bottom nice and hot and then i swirl olive oil 4 or 5 times to semi-coat the bottom and throw in a good heaping spoon of butter (if you are concerned about fat content or whatnot, you can leave out the butter. but the butter to me is what truly makes a good broth!). i chop up 2 fresh onions into 6-8 wedges and toss those into the butter. i clean the carrots but i do not peel them. i also leave the tops and bottoms on. i chop about 6 of those in half and toss those in to the pot. i clean a few stalks of fresh celery and chop them in half and toss them in the pot. i then liberally add sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. you can leave out the salt if you desire, but i believe that the salt really helps with the flavour. i stir these veggies and let them cook until they start to brown. once browned, i add 2 cups of filtered rainwater. i turn the heat down to medium.

 

next, i dump a bag or two of a variety of frozen veggies from my saved stash in. you could skip this step by adding more fresh veggies in the beginning. next i toss in 10-12 pieces of garlic. i smash the garlic with the back of the knife but i don't crush it or chop it - you don't need to. next i add a big splash of vinegar with the mother in it and a heaping teaspoon of unpasteurized honey. give all of this a nice stir, and help the frozen veggies melt. now it's on to spices.




i throw every spice i have in to the pot. i just take a pinch of everything using my fingers. i throw in 8-10 bay leaves, pinch of rosemary, thyme, turmeric, curry powder, cinnamon, cumin, cilantro/coriander, chili powder, cayenne, paprika, sage, oregano, and some more sea salt and cracked pepper. i bring the pot up to a boil, and once at a boil, put a lid on and set the heat to medium-low, just to keep the pot at a simmer. i check the pot quite regularly, give it a stir and keep it at a simmer. after an hour or so, all of the frozen veggies should be melted. at this point i add as much water as needed to fill the pot, bring it back to a boil, put the lid back on and bring the heat down to a simmer again.

then i leave it at a simmer for 6 or 8 or 10 hours, constantly checking it, stirring it, etc. once the set amount of time has passed, i spoon out as much vegetables as i can and let the soup cool. once cooled, i line a colander with some paper towel and pour out the broth into another big bowl or pot. once the liquid is fully cooled, i pour it into a variety of sized containers and freeze it. this will be the base for your poultry and beef broth.

i usually make a beef or poultry broth the very next day and save 4 cups of the veggie stock in the fridge to do so. i start the pot with the same olive oil, butter, and fresh onion, celery and carrot stir fry. once the veggies have browned, i add the 4 cups of veggie broth that i saved in the fridge. then i throw in some more of the frozen saved veggie pieces. in the case of poultry broth, i throw in at least 2 frozen carcasses, all of the wing/leg bones, any remaining meat, all of the fat, etc. i find that the best poultry or beef broth starts with a good veggie broth as the base. in the case of a beef broth, i throw in frozen bones from roasts, steaks, all the fat, any remaining bits of meat, etc. i melt the frozen carcasses/bones on medium heat and after about an hour they and the veggies should be melted. at this point i add as much filtered rainwater as is needed to fill the pot. i then throw in pinches of all of the spices that i used to make the veggie broth above. i bring the pot to a boil, put a lid on it and let it simmer all day, checking it and stirring it regularly.


after 6 or 8 or 10 hours has passed, i remove all of the carcasses/bones etc with a slotted spoon. then i let the broth cool. once cooled a little, i line a colander with paper towel and pour into another big pot or bowl. this step is CRUCIAL to getting the gelatinous goopy fat out of your broth. put into a variety of containers and once completely cooled, put in the freezer. or can your broth - it's up to you!

i hope that this guide has been helpful. if anyone has any questions, please don't hesitate to ask them!

SPROUTS - not so much of a recipe but whateva!

Sprouts eh? Yes sprouts. There are lots of interesting facts about sprouts:

"Seeds and grains contain a wonderful store of nutrients and are an excellent source of enzymes. Nature has protected the enzymes in dry seeds, nuts, grains and legumes by placing enzyme inhibitors in them. Enzyme inhibitors prevent the enzymes from being activated until the seed is germinated. Unfortunately this also prevents us from receiving the benefit of the plant enzymes to aid us in the digestion of the seeds. Germination neutralizes the inhibitors and releases the enzymes. Many people are sensitive to these inhibitors and display allergic reactions such as headaches. Some have difficulty digesting the seeds and nuts, grains or legumes and suffer indigestion. These digestive problems can be prevented by soaking the dry seed and beginning the germination process. Sprouting makes the vital enzymes fully available for our body's use and eliminates the possibility of allergic reactions to the enzyme inhibitors.

Many seeds also contain phytic acid which significantly reduces the absorption of calcium, iron, zinc and other minerals into the blood stream causing loss of important minerals. When the seeds are sprouted, such losses become insignificant. Several other important functions are served in sprouting. The nutritional value is greatly enhanced, even quadrupled in many cases. In addition, starches and proteins are converted into simple sugars and amino acids which are much more easily absorbed and utilized by the body. In the case of nuts and seeds, the fat content is reduced by as much as 30-40% as it is consumed or energy in growing the sprout or converted into fatty acids.

The high concentration of vitamins, minerals and amino acids (proteins), RNA and DNA in sprouted foods have a regenerative effect on the human body. This concentrated combination of nutrients is available only in the live cell food." (http://www.homeopathyone.com/live_sprouted_foods.htm)

The sprouter that we use, year-round, is an EasyGreen Automatic Sprouter.

as you can see, this sprouter has 5 trays, an automatic timer for the mister and the ability to mix and match your sprouts. some sprouts take 4-7 days, some a little longer.

here's a pic of about $40 worth of sprouts that lasted for almost 3yrs. that is some cheap, delicious food!

The EasyGreen sprouter is pretty expensive – however, if you are interested in purchasing an automatic sprouting machine – we highly recommend it! There are other smaller, automatic types out there as well – such as this one - and non-automatic models such as this one - . Those are just a few examples – I have done some searching on the net for sprouters and there are a bazillion different kinds – and in all price ranges.

What’s even better though is that I found a bazillion sites that talk about growing sprouts in mason jars! I like DIY’ers who figure out ways to do things on the cheap! Go here , or here, or here for more information. Just google sprouts and mason jars and you will find many, many more sites out there that can teach you the step-by-step basics of growing your own sprouts in mason jars – I haven’t tried it in mason jars but there are so many people out there doing it – it can’t be that hard right?

and sprouts are just so very good for you! ok - this IS a recipe blog so i will leave you with a few recipes:

Recipe 1: toss them on every salad you make.

Recipe 2: toss them on every sandwich you make.

Recipe 3: toss them onto a bowl of soup after you have served it - that way they keep their crunch. or throw all caution to the wind and toss them into the soup as you are cooking it.

Recipe 4: toss them onto stew, or into stew.

Recipe 5: eat them by the handful.

Recipe 6: make yourself a nice snack plate of cheese, kimchi, some crackers, some apple and, get ready for it - toss the sprouts on your plate.

you can get really crazy and put them in your ice-cream or bake a sprout pie - but hey - get creative! and get yourself some sprouts!!!

hot/sour/sweet dressing or dipping sauce

this delicious dressing/dipping sauce is filled with goodness and will belt you in the head! so if you like stuff that belts you in the head - this one is a winner!

the salad pictured below is romaine chiffonade, frozen peas that are just barely thawed, cucumber, shrimp, blood oranges, fresh homegrown sprouts and the hot/sour/sweet dressing.

kymberz hot/sour/sweet dressing:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup of organic sugar
3 tablespoons of fermented fish sauce
2 tablespoons of unseasoned rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves (i always use 4 - we love garlic!)
1 tablespoon of homemade hot sauce (or store-bought)
1 jalapeno pepper with seeds, minced finely (if you don't have a jalapeno, you can probably substitute with canned jalepeno chopped finely, or red pepper flakes)

1. put all of the ingredients in a jar and shake until the sugar dissolves. put in the fridge for at least an hour to get a nice chill (when i made this the other day, i just put the jar out in the snow - bahahahah!)

this dressing can be used on any kind of salad of your choice. it is also great as a dipping sauce for vietnamese spring rolls or rice paper rolls. when i use it as a dipping sauce i always include a good handful of chopped up green onions.

enjoy! and if you have any questions - just leave them in the comments section.

kymberz chicken and veg curry!

this curry is a combination of a few recipes that i have played with and tweaked over the years. it is full of flavourful spices, but it isn't hot! you can make it hotter by adding hot sauce if you like! you can also add whichever vegetables you have on hand, and they can be fresh or frozen!

 

Ingredients for the curry paste:

2 cups of plain yogurt - you can use fat-free but where is the fun in that?!?!?
1, 2, 3 or 4 chicken breasts, depending on how much chicken you want in there. for this recipe i used one large chicken breast, chopped up into bite-size pieces
4tsp of curry powder
2tsp ground coriander
1tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you like it hotter)
1tsp cumin
1tsp turmeric (i use 2 tspns because turmeric is so good for you!)
oil as needed for sauteeing the veg below (you can use EVOO, almond or get crazy like i did and use walnut oil - it adds a nice nutty flavour!)
the juice of half a lemon
4 garlic cloves (i used 6 big ones because we love garlic!), crushed
a big knob of fresh ginger, crushed
a nice dash of salt and pepper

Step 1: combine all of the above ingredients in a big bowl. it should look a little something like this:

2. Mix it all together and dump your cubed chicken in and be sure to coat all of the chicken.

3. Set the chicken aside and let it marinate at room temperature for about 20 minutes. while you are waiting on the chicken - prepare your veg ingredients.

the list of veg ingredients will vary depending on what veg you have on hand. my list of veg ingredients follows:

half a chopped fresh onion
a nice handful of chopped fresh broccoli
a nice handful of chopped fresh cauliflower
a handful of orange and white carrots (from our garden)
2 handfuls of irish cobbler potatoes chopped into cubes (from our garden - woohoo!)
2 fresh tomatoes, chopped and keep all of the juices and seeds
3/4 cup of frozen peas

here's a pic of all of the suspects!

now some people might call me crazy for this next step but trust me that the time and effort is worth it! so....

Step 4: use a high-sided stainless steel sauteeing pan. toss in some oil as needed. as i mentioned, i used walnut oil.

Step 5: once the oil is heated toss in your onion. keep stirring it around until it starts to carmelize and leave some brown bits on the bottom of the pan. remove the cooked onion to a container.

Step 6: another splash of oil in the pan, you'll be able to tell how much you need. you only want to be able to coat the veg and then give them a nice quick sautee.  so now, toss in your carrots. brown them a little and then remove them to a container.

Step 7: more oil. toss in the broccoli and cauliflower. stir them around. coat them in the oil. brown them a little and then remove them.

Step 8: you guessed it! another splash of oil. toss in the potatoes. stir 'em around to coat and let them brown.

Step 9: take the chicken cubes out of the marinade and shake off as much marinade as possible back into the bowl. add more oil to your pan. toss in the marinated chicken. stir it around and don't worry about the beautiful curry sauce that might be sticking to your pan - you want that! when the chicken is cooked through, remove it.

here's a pic of all of the suspects sauteed:

Step 10: throw some oil into the pan. now dump in your chopped tomatoes. stir them around and squish them with whatever utensil you are using. the tomatoes will release a lot of water and juices and by constantly stirring them, you are deglazing the pan of all of the brown bits left by the veg, as well as some of the curry sauce left from the chicken. sorry for the blurry pic!

Step 11: toss the potatoe cubes in with the tomatoes and stir on a med-high temperature - you want to bring the potatoes to a boil. they will need about 5-7 mins in order to become fork-tender. don't overcook them as they will still be cooking for a few more minutes when the other veg are added.

Step 12: once the potatoes are fork tender, toss in all the other veg and the chicken. toss in the frozen peas. let the sauce and veg come up to a boil and then reduce the heat to low and cover for anywhere between 5-15 mins, depending on how crispy you like your veg to be.

and then serve!

i forgot to take a picture of the warmed up pita bread that i also served with this. the pita is good for wiping up the delicious curry sauce. we usually make this for supper and because it is so full of veg, you don't really need to serve it with anything other than a small salad, or in this case, blood oranges and sprouts. there is another meal for dinner (lunch) tomorrow, and then there will be enough left to have served over rice the following day. you can adjust how much you make by halving or doubling the recipe. i don't know if this freezes well or not - we just eat it until it is gone!

i hope that you enjoy this recipe and if you have any questions just ask in the comments!

kimchi! (also known around The Manor as "kymberchi"!!!)

we love kimchi. it not only tastes great, punches you in the head with it's kick, and is terrifically wonderful for your stomach flora - it just feels good to eat! kimchi is a traditional dish that koreans eat a ton of, and they eat it with every meal. there are a million different kinds of kimchi, which is simply fermented veggies, but i am providing a traditional kimchi that my korean teacher taught me many moons ago when i was on my korean language training.

this type of kimchi is normally prepared in a ceramic crock and then buried underground for a minimum of 3 months to ferment. sounds crazy but if you have ever had "proper", buried-in-a-crock kimchi - oh man there is nothing like it! and my friend Harry can attest to the fact that if you spill it - there is no smell like it on earth! but man is it deelish!

anyway - when my korean teacher left korea and came to canada with her husband and children - she quickly figured out that she needed to make kimchi regularly for her family as there was no where to buy it (that has since changed! i am glad to say that ottawa has several korean stores and markets and we were able to get really good kimchi all of the years that we lived in ottawa). anyway, i digress. here is the kimchi recipe that my korean teacher taught me. this stuff is awesome!

first off - here's your ingredients: 2 nappa cabbages, several small daikon radishes (or one big one), coarse sea salt (do not use table salt!), korean red pepper flakes, a quarter cup of thai fish sauce (i use 2 of my home-made concentrated fish ice cubes), as many green onions as you like (i like a lot of them in the kimchi), a whole clove of garlic and a big knob of ginger.

cut the bottoms off of your nappa cabbage and then peel each leaf. trim any bad spots. fill a big pot, crock, or as i use, a cleaned and washed cooler. add a cup of coarse sea salt and about a gallon of water. stir the water until the salt has dissolved. place all of your trimmed leaves in the water. use something to make sure that your leaves stay submerged in the salt brine - i use bottles filled with water. 

put your container in a cool, dark place for about 3 hours.

next up - grate your daikon radish. this kimchi is so spicy because the daikon radishes were grown in our garden.

crush all of your cloves of garlic, and your ginger, using a garlic press into a big bowl.

add the grated daikon radish, cup of red pepper flakes and fish sauce.

 

rinse all of your cabbage leaves and green onion. rinse them 2 or three times. then wrap them in paper towel and a cotton towel - you want the cabbage leaves to be incredibly dry.

 

make sure to wear rubber gloves as the red pepper flakes burn. trust me. and don't wipe your eyes or nose. trust me.

 take each piece of cabbage and rub it with the sauce. rub it into all of the grooves of the cabbage both front and back. you will feel the cabbage leaf start to wilt. that's good. when the leaf is covered both front and back, fold it up and put it in your glass jar.

keep adding leaves and while doing so, press down as hard as you can so that the leaves start releasing their liquid. you will think that the jar is full and then realize that it is only half-full. you can fit a lot of cabbage leaves folded up like this in a jar.

 leave about a quarter inch of headspace at the top of the jar. keep pressing down on the cabbage as it will continue to shrink down. when you are pretty sure that your jar is full - cap it and put it somewhere cool and dark. i put ours under the bed.

every few hours, shake the jars. really shake them. you will notice that a liquid has now formed and that the cabbage has shrunk down. that's the fermentation part and that is a good thing. if you see bubbles - that's good too. you can let your jar ferment up to a week but i never last past 3 days. once you have decided to end your fermentation phase, put your jar(s) in the fridge. enjoy with every meal. this recipe isn't the crock recipe - if using a crock and the proper crock recipe - the kimchi will keep for a year or longer. this kimchi recipe will keep for about a month in the fridge.

give it a try. it certainly is an acquired taste - but if you acquire a taste for it - you'll want it all the time. i love kimchi!

here's a nice breakfast - zucchini/carrot fritters with sour cream and you guessed it - kimchi! it was awesome!

 

i hope that you enjoyed this tutorial and hope that you'll make your own kimchi too! it really is good for you!

starting up this blog again!

at the request of a few of my internet friends, i have decided to start up this recipe blog again! i've kind of let it sit dormant for quite a while now! i love recipe blogs and i love getting good meal ideas from other people so maybe it's time for me to start sharing recipes again!

my gorgeous jambaloney and i try to treat preparing food and eating food as a pleasure - we really enjoy good food! over the years, we have experimented with incorporating a variety of ideas, methods and ways to eat as healthily as possible. we have amalgamated a "diet" (i hate that word!) and we call it "the Framboise Manor Good-Eats Guide". if you would like to learn more about it, you can read this previous entry which explains in detail what the Good-Eats Guide is all about. basically, in a nutshell - we believe it is very important to consume raw food, cooked food (grilled/steamed/sauteed or roasted - NO BOILING!) and fermented food daily. we try to grow as much food on our little homestead as possible and then use a variety of preserving methods to stock up on that food for the winter. however, we have not yet been able to not have to buy food! so when we do buy food, we buy organic, local and seasonal food. we believe it is very important to eat as seasonally as possible. don't get me wrong - we will not give up our avocados, but now that we have a greenhouse and are planning to build a sunroom extension off of our kitchen - growing our own avocados might be in our future. we will try!

we also believe in eating fresh sprouts daily and consume as much ginger, turmeric, garlic, cayenne, cumin, a variety of curries daily. so to kick this blog back off - today i am sharing my recipe for carrot/ginger salad dressing. it is delightful and refreshing and full of healthy ingredients. here is one of our breakfast salads from the other morning:

it's organic, store-bought romaine with our own healthy sprouts (we sprout 5 different kinds of sprouts at a time in our sprouter), some of the delicious carrot/ginger dressing and of course, kimchi. i make my own kimchi and will share that recipe tomorrow.

here is a dinner salad (dinner as in lunch because supper is the main evening meal!):

all kinds of peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower, romaine and boston lettuce and the carrot/ginger dressing. the carrot/ginger dressing will last in your fridge for well-over a week - but you will have to take it out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature and shake the pants out of it before serving it. so, onto the recipe!

CARROT/GINGER DRESSING

Ingredients:

1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup of rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup of soya sauce
1 Tblspn of sugar
1 inch knob of fresh ginger (i use more but this is the original recipe)
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1/2 an onion chopped
1 clove of garlic
a dash of turmeric to taste
a dash of cumin to taste
a dash of cayenne to taste
a splash of apple cider vinegar with the mother in it
sea salt and fresh-cracked black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor, mixer or chopper and process until desired consistency is achieved (i like mine chunky but you may prefer to puree it). Chill. Serve over any combination of vegetables, lettuces, etc.

We like to have plain lettuce (mesclun/romaine/boston) and sprouts with this dressing for breakfast. it is light and delicious!

anyway, tomorrow's recipe will be kimchi. we try to eat a nice blob of kimchi a few times a day. here is another one of our favourite breakfasts :

some sauteed spinach in garlic and butter, kimchi, some pickled onions and some pickled peppers.

let me know in the comments section if there are any specific recipes that you would like me to post! thanks for stopping in - and remember - food is how we nourish our bodies, rebuild damage that has been done to our bodies and eating good food makes you happy!